Russian hackers put document about planned Swiss tank deal online

Russian hackers have released an internal federal document about a possible ring swap involving Piranha-wheeled armored vehicles in favor of Ukraine. The State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (Seco) confirmed the authenticity of the newspaper to the Keystone-SDA news agency.

The Tamedia newspapers reported on Friday about the leaked document – a language regulation on issues related to the re-export of war material related to Ukraine. That was published on Wednesday evening on the Telegram news channel of the Russian hacker group Joker DPR.

The partially confidential Seco document mentions possible plans for a “ring swap” of Swiss-made armored vehicles to continue supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia. Accordingly, Denmark could supply the piranhas to a Baltic state. It would then pass on its own military vehicles to Ukraine. However, Seco has not received a specific request for such a ring exchange, as Seco spokesperson Keystone-SDA announced.

Issue “very serious”

According to the Seco, the document was made available to the outside world as a language regulation to the federal government and embassies abroad. The Seco spokesperson explained that the content of the indiscretion was no longer problematic. The version dates from early 2023 and the information from it was already known to the public.

It was initially unclear how the document came into the hands of the hackers. They claimed to have found the Swiss document in an email sent by a member of the Ukrainian military. The Ukrainians, in turn, leaked the newspaper through the US secret service.

The Seco launched investigations. The matter is being “taken very seriously,” said the Seco spokesman. The chairman of the Security Policy Committee of the Council of States, Werner Salzmann, finds the incident “very worrying”. It shows how vulnerable Switzerland is to cyber attacks, he told Swiss Radio and Television (SRF).

The plans would have scared the hell out of him. “We have always criticized the fact that such transactions involving the exchange of rings are a violation of neutrality.” (sda)